Hokie Week: Locals Hope For Baseball Revival
Hokies senior C Matt Foley
After suffering through the program's first back-to-back losing seasons since 1957-58, the Virginia Tech baseball team had a facelift during the off-season.
Longtime head coach Chuck Hartman, who guided the Hokies for 28 seasons, retired and former Boston College coach Pete Hughes was brought in to return the program to its winning ways.
Hughes will look to a handful of Northern Virginia players to help Virginia Tech reverse its fortunes in the always-tough Atlantic Coast Conference.
Behind the plate, senior Matt Foley, who was The Washington Post's All-Met Player of the Year in 2003 and helped Madison win the Group AAA state championship in 2002, has returned in the best shape of his life after a rugged off-season conditioning program. Foley, who is coming off a wrist injury, has made 135 career starts (72 behind the plate), but has struggled offensively at times while in Blacksburg.
Foley hit .263 with one home run and 16 RBI in 41 games in 2006.
"Matt has gotten himself in the best shape of his career and has a chance to have a great year," Hughes said in a release by the school. "He's a key for us. To have success this year, we need for him to have a good year, handle our pitching staff and stay healthy."
Sophomore Sean Ryan, a former first-team All-Met performer at Stone Bridge, is probably the Hokies' top defensive outfielder and will compete for time as a starter after hitting .235 as a freshman last spring, playing in 29 games and starting eight.
On the mound, senior Josh Canova (Madison) and sophomore Evan Frederickson (Oakton) should see plenty of time for a staff that enters the season as the team's biggest question mark, Hughes said.
Canova was 1-1 in 12 relief appearances last year, while the 6-foot-6-inch Frederickson struggled in his first collegiate season, walking 33 batters in 22.2 innings of work and finishing 0-3 after making 12 appearances, six as a starter.
